Keith Mitchell opens with 61, leads PGA Tour’s Truist Championship
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Leader Keith Mitchell lining up his putt on the ninth green during the first round of the Truist Championship golf tournament.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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FLOURTOWN – Keith Mitchell used a late birdie run to shoot a nine-under 61 and take the early lead at the Truist Championship on May 8 in Flourtown, Pennsylvania.
He started his first round at the Philadelphia Cricket Club’s Wissahickon Course on the back nine and parred his first five holes. After birdying Nos. 15, 17 and 18, he stayed hot on the front nine with a six-under 29 coming in, including four straight birdies from No. 5.
At day’s end, it was only good for a one-stroke lead over Denny McCarthy. Tied for third at seven-under 63 are Collin Morikawa, Rickie Fowler, Akshay Bhatia and Austria’s Sepp Straka.
Mitchell – in the field only due to a sponsor’s exemption – carried a bit of insider info into the week.
“I have a buddy that’s a member that kind of gave me a little bit of info, but honestly nothing,” the 33-year-old said.
“I knew it was a great golf course. Everybody that I talked to said it was amazing, and they were right.
“We’re lucky to be here. I just plotted my way around Monday and Wednesday to figure out what to hit and where to kind of try to put the ball on the green.”
That prep work helped immensely on his final few holes, as he stuck his approach at the par-four seventh hole to 2½ feet off the pin, in between 5½- and 7½-foot birdie putts at Nos. 6 and 8.
Making its PGA Tour debut, the Philadelphia Cricket Club is serving as a temporary host for the US$20 million (S$26 million) signature event while Quail Hollow prepares to host the PGA Championship next week.
“This golf course is as classic as it gets, traditional,” Mitchell said. “The weather was just absolutely perfect today. So it didn’t really have much going to make it play harder. Being able to take advantage of it today with the weather was exactly what we were trying to do.”
Ireland’s Shane Lowry and Ryder Cup captain Keegan Bradley were part of a tie for seventh at six-under 64. A massive tie at 65 included Patrick Cantlay, Harris English, Tony Finau, Russell Henley, Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama and South Korea’s Kim Si-woo.
On the LPGA Tour, Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand rang up eight birdies with no bogeys on May 8 to set the first-round pace on eight-under 64 at the Mizuho Americas Open in Jersey City, New Jersey.
The world No. 2 won the CME Group Tour Championship last fall but has not won on the LPGA Tour yet in 2025.
She is in good position at Liberty National Golf Club, where she has a two-shot advantage over Celine Boutier of France and Choi Hye-jin of South Korea.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has made a major financial commitment to the Ladies European Tour (LET) in becoming the title sponsor of five women’s golf events.
The events formerly known as the Aramco Team Series have been rebranded as the PIF Global Series and will take place in five countries across three continents in 2025. Each will also feature a doubling in prize purse to US$2 million.
The news comes on the heels of the US$5 million prize purse for the PIF Saudi Ladies International in February, where Jeeno earned US$675,000 for her victory. The event will remain intact for the 2026 season. REUTERS
